Q: How can I permanently disable Photos.app?

I finally got annoyed enough by this to google for the answer, and found this topic.

My solution...

Open 'Terminal'.  If you don't see it right away, it's under '/Applications/Utilities'.

Type the following...

    cd /Applications

    sudo rm -rf Photos.app

(You could use 'mv Photos.app Photos.xxx', instead, but I would never, ever use this thing, so I just deleted it.)

Maybe I'm 'old fashioned', but I just want my computer to do what I tell it to do, and nothing else.

I guess the only 'user friendly' thing is to ramrod whatever Apple wants the computer to do into my workflow.

When I plugged an iThing into the USB port, it dutifully launched 'Image Capture', just like it used to.  That setting, to make this stop happening turns out to be buried by a little arrow in the lower, left corner of the window.

If only there were some standard place to put settings in apps, like under the Application's name on the menu bar, or some kind of global 'System Preferences' for things, like what to launch, when some system event happens... you could even put that under the 'Apple' icon, or something.  You know, instead of burying settings under obscure, fly-speck sized icons.

Oh, and thanks a whole lot Apple, for turning into Microsoft and making something fantastically annoying 'required by the OS', just like 'Internet Explorer' and 'Media Player' have been 'part of the OS', and just keep hiding/burying OS settings deeper in obscure garbage, in every new version.  Hey, I know, maybe Apple should add a dancing paperclip with notes about what it thinks you're 'trying to do' with every app, just like Microsoft did, too.  At least there wasn't a 'super secret sudo' for a level of permission only Apple had, as Microsoft has done in the past, as well.  Perhaps next version you'll put killing your annoying, pre-installed (cr)apps behind a pay wall, and charge me with a DMCA violation if I disable it?

Pffff. ne news,

a bit annpying

Deleting the Photos app via terminal might not be for everyone and if you are like me and want to open a specific app (not just silence the dreadful Photos app) for your memory cards, maybe this is a solution for you: https://captureintegration.com/quick-tip-stop-yosemites-photos-from-opening/

It works for me...

So I don’t know if this will work for anyone, but at first blush it seems to be an effective solution, and does not necessitate Terminal or Automator.  Insert a card and let iPhoto annoyingly open.  Without unchecking any boxes or futzing with image caputure, simply click iPhoto>Preferences and go to “Connecting Camera Opens” and select “No Application”.  It’s almost exactly what I’ve been repeatedly doing in Image Capture, hoping that at some point all my various cards would be properly designated, but as Patrick points out, formatting just seems to reset it.  However, selecting this from iPhoto Preferences seems to function as more of a blanket command. 

My methods:  I inserted a card that made iPhoto open without solicitation.  Made the aforementioned change in Preferences, quit iPhoto and ejected card.  Reinserted and iPhoto didn’t open.  Ejected it and inserted another recently formatted card and iPhoto didn’t open.  Huzzah!  Now I can just drag things between Finder windows unperturbed, as I’ve always wanted.  Hoping this good behavior continues going forward. 

It’s a stultifyingly simple solution.  I’ve had this issue with Canon software, Dropbox, and most recently iPhoto.  If I'm lucky, not only will this stick with iPhoto, but will prevent other attention-seeking applications from auto-opening in the future.  Curious to know if this works for any other photographers out there. 

Full credit to Howtogeek.com for figuring this out, as I am always Command-Q-ing iPhoto in anger as soon as it rears its dumb gray face, and would never have considered it as a possibility.  Their article is here, and they distinguish this method from other single-device solutions, so I have high hopes:

http://www.howtogeek.com/207091/how-to-stop-iphoto-from-starting-when-you-plug-i n-an-iphone-ipad-or-memory-card/

Good luck!

Queso de Papa wrote:

Insert a card and let iPhoto annoyingly open.  Without unchecking any boxes or futzing with image caputure, simply click iPhoto>Preferences and go to “Connecting Camera Opens” and select “No Application”.

Please note that this discussion is about the new Photos app, not the older iPhoto one. Unfortunately, the new app does not have a "Connecting Camera Opens" preference setting so your method won't work with it.

Thanks for the Terminal instructions: I was about to consider switching back to Windows – well, at least seeing if Windows 10 was a viable OS  :-)

Tried using Photos once, didn't like how it worked and foolishly thought i could just ignore it, but even ticking the box in the app to prevent it opening media in future – which continually opened regardless – on cards that hadn't been reformatted didn't work.

Wish I'd known this trick when I was plagued by another family of Apps I was never going to use, but thankfully Pages, Numbers and Keynote (?) are no longer bundled ... or at least they're not on the two Macs I use the most.

The control freaks at Apple have changed something to stop the Terminal commands from working for removing apps like Photos from your system.

When I run the   sudo rm -rf Photos.app command in Terminal i get the message "Operation Not Permitted."

Ok, I have discovered that what Apple have done is to add a whole new layer of security to 10.11, that either users will never know about or alternatively, actively not want - go figure! 

They have taken away some privileges from root. The Photo.app that I am trying to delete has a restricted flag. Now only restricted processes which are signed by Apple will be able to modify files . However, you can disable this security system by booting in recovery mode and disabling it in a Terminal by running: csrutil disable.

I just used AppZapper after that to remove Photos.app but equally you could run the Terminal command to delete.

After testing a number of  things I found a solution. I believed that reformatting the cards was the problem.

Since I did the steps below, Photos has never opened when a camera card is inserted.

Insert the card and when Photos opens uncheck the box in the upper left corner that says "Open Photos for this device."

Launch Image Capture.app and click the small triangle in the lower left corner.

In the pop up below "Connecting this camera opens:" select "No application."

With the card still mounted here is the step that makes it work.......

Open the camera card.

Open the folders to the 100xxxxxx folder and drag all the files in the folder to the trash or select all and do a Command-delete.

Eject the card.

DO NOT REFORMAT THE CARD IN THE CAMERA ! !

I have shot many photos, inserted the card, copied, and then deleted the photos on the card and not had Photos open once.

We have to get rid of this Photos App.

It is so annoying it is malware. It's like spam installed on my computer.

Thank you, Apple, by forcing this junk down our throats. We love to be treated as if we wouldn't know what we wanted.

You have to reformat a card in the camera. Do not delete cards via computer. It is unreliable and can lead to card formatting errors. Always reformat in camera.

What we need is just a way to turn this Photos spam app off.

Send feedback to Apple to stop this spam app.

So my question is how do I ignore something that opens every time I wave an image file near it?

http://www.apple.com/feedback/

<Edited by Host>

RangerRick wrote:

"DO NOT REFORMAT THE CARD IN THE CAMERA ! !"

As a pro. photographer, may I suggest this is not good advice. For reliable sues and multiple re-use of SD and CF cards, they must be reformatted in the camera regularly. Anyone interested can do a quick search and see why: deleting via the computer can corrupt the file structure; when the camera re-formats, the file structure is recreated (as well as the images deleted).

Photos is a seriously irritating bit of software; as a videographer shooting multicam all the time, I need to quit Photos at least eight times a day...

I will add my feedback on the link above, but am not hopeful.

What are the potential downsides to using Terminal to zap this program?

I have found a solution to this rather vexing problem, via the terminal.

Or, rather, through Google... someone ELSE found the actual solution.

Go the following site:

http://petapixel.com/2015/12/21/stop-apple-photos-from-auto-launching-in-os-x-wi th-one-command/

Works like a champ on my machine – MacBook Pro running a Samsung SSD HD on OS X 10.11.2

Hope it works for all of you, as well.

Cheers.